CHEF MENTEUR and NEW ORLEANS EAST POST KATRINA

Located east of the Big Easy, Chef Highway has long been the road of choice to fisher people and commuters who work at Textron Marine, Folgers Coffee and Lockheed Martin. Also known as Louisiana Highway 90, Chef Highway spans from New Orleans East to Chef Pass. Pre Katrina, the Chef Highway was both a lush area, in the heart of the Bayou Sauvage Wildlife Refuge, and a close knit neighborhood of enterprising Vietnamese.

taken on August 10, 2007 in the Venetian Isles and Lake Catherine areas just east of New Orleans. This may be a first of several posts of this area, as hubby and I are voracious photographers.
In August of 2007 - two years post Katrina -
We took LA434 into Lake Catherine to witness the status of the new Rigolets Bridge.

A lot wider than the current span, I look forward to its opening!

After nearly two years, the debris pickup in Lake Catherine is in full swing.

I've been seeing this boat along side Hwy 90 forever.

The construction activity in this area is on the upswing, too.

Other places sit silently, awaiting insurance settlements or new buyers.

This boat has caught our eye for some time now, so we decided to check it out

We saw the name "Mary W" in the rusted metal.
All of the properties surrounding this lonely boat look like this

Perhaps the beginning of restoration:A $19.6 million proposal may be the first among four projects recommended for approval by the Breaux Act Task Force at its Oct. 18 meeting.

If the task force agrees, as expected, the federal Natural Resources Conservation Service and the state Department of Natural Resources would choose a contractor and oversee the work
to rebuild a land bridge, sandwiched between Lake Pontchartrain and Lake Borgne in an area known as Alligator Bend (see red star on map below), the contractor would mine about 3 million cubic yards of sediment from Lake Borgne to fill in 410 acres of open water, in part created by Hurricane Katrina.

The project also includes planting vegetation along 7 1/4 miles of the Lake Borgne shoreline, which retreated 5 feet during the storm.

The Coastal Wetlands Planning, Protection and Restoration Act (CWPPRA) was
passed by congress in 1990. It funds wetland enhancement projects nationwide, designating approximately $60 million annually for work in Louisiana.

This report gives an overview and status of coastal efforts to protect, conserve, restore, and improve the state's coastal wetlands. The Barrier Island Status Report is included in the report as mandated by the
2006 Regular Legislative Session. The report is subdivided into four primary sections by region and also includes information on project location, features, acreage, costs, and funding sources.

Project List
The CWPPRA Task Force annually develops a list of high-priority projects to be constructed. To date, sixteen such priority lists have been formulated. The projects funded by CWPPRA all focus on marsh creation, restoration, protection or enhancement.

From the levee on Hwy. 90, this picture shows New Orleans looking across the disappearing wetlands.

Taken in February '07, it appears that cleanup activity is finally coming to this part of New Orleans.

These huge boats were washed OVER the levee and still sit here, 17 months after the storm.
To get their kicks, the ne'er do wells like to steal vehicles and when they're done with them, the burn them to kill any evidence. I'm not sure how long this truck's been sitting on the other side of the levee.
Seen on the levee between Chef Hwy and Lake Borgne (Sept '06)

My Katrina blog which helps me work through the whirlwind of emotions that impact me every day as I drive through Katrina's leavings in my daily commute to work.

This is Hwy 90 (aka Chef Hwy). The trees on the left hand side of the road were killed by saltwater intrusion caused by MRGO

Here's the walkway out onto Bayou Sauvage. We're in a drought and this shows it.

The trees along the swamp were killed by the saltwater intrusion. It apparently made it across Hwy 90

Chef Menteur Landfill - New Orleans East
Mayor Nagin and the Louisiana DEQ allowed this landfill to be built to handle construction and demolition debris. However, it is between the Bayou Sauvage Wildlife Reserve and a Vietnamese community in the far reaches of New Orleans East. Currently closed for testing, if allowed to reopen, there is no telling what kind of pollution will be dumped there. This cannot happen. Where the hell is the EPA?????

Click here for an article that discusses the closing of a landfill that abuts this Wildlife Preserve.

<
Here's an article
on DEQ's disagreement with the decision to close landfill, but promises to follow
New Orleans' wishes.

Charley Varley, A British photographer who's creating Disaster and Recovery: A Year in the Life of New Orleans: A photographic journal of New Orleans from the day Hurricane Katrina devastated the city
Excellent pix!! Thanks, Charley!